Falling Forward: Making the Best of Failures and Setbacks in Business

Falling Forward: Making the Best of Failures and Setbacks in Business

You may remember a previous article that was all about the different reasons your business could be failing. But did you know that you can “fall forward” and turn those failures and setbacks in to major assets? In our success-driven society, it’s hard to imagine failure could be a good thing. However, we will never succeed at anything without failing first.

Think about a small child learning to walk. They fall plenty of times before they finally learn to do it, don’t they? But there is a stage in which they essentially learn to walk by falling forward, isn’t there? They start to fall, but they use the fall to move forward instead of just landing on the ground.

This is how you can turn your business failures into major leaps forward.

No Regrets

This doesn’t just mean not to regret your failures, but it also means that you should take risks even if they may be met with failure. Life is too short to live in fear of what bad may happen. If you have an idea you really like, you should take it to the max and don’t have any regrets if it fails – just move on to the next big idea. Learn from your failures… treat each day like…

Every Day is a Day to Learn Something New

This is perhaps the number one benefit you can reap from setbacks and failures – learning what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes the only way to succeed is to fail until you get it right. Ask yourself each day what you can learn from that day’s events, no matter how terrible they may be. Chances are you will find a lesson in every day you examine.

Accept Your Failures and Setbacks

Accepting your failures and setbacks can be difficult, but you won’t be able to learn from them or live without regrets if you don’t accept their reality. Accepting the reality of your failures and setbacks can also bring relief, as you will acknowledge you have completed the cycle and can start again fresh and new. Every ending is a new beginning – and accepting the reality of your endings can help you refresh yourself for the new beginning awaiting you.

Don’t Victimize Yourself – Strategize!

You don’t have to take a failure or setback in business laying down! Fight back! Figure out a way to work around it and make it work for you. Find a strategy for dealing with the setback or failure in a way that benefits instead of harms your business. Work out a system and sound it out to a group of trusted mentors to make sure it’s a logical way to deal with the issue. Be a victor; not a victim!

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Most importantly, keep yourself focused on your end goal. Remind yourself every single day what it is you are trying to achieve, and don’t lose sight of it. Set up a daily schedule for yourself and stick to it. Don’t give up when your schedule falls apart. Keep working and finding things to do to fill in the time gaps. Create a list of tasks you can do whenever you have free time and keep it handy for those moments when you don’t have anything on your schedule to do.

Keep Falling Forward

Determination is the most major key to turning your failures and setbacks into business assets. In my family we use the motto “Never give up; never surrender!” for school, work, household chores, personal problems, and any other difficult tasks. It acts as a reminder to us that no matter what happens, we only fail when we stop trying. That is the major key to falling forward – you will only fall if you allow yourself to. You CAN figure out a way to turn that fall into a step forward, just like a toddler does when he or she is learning to walk. It’s all up to you as to whether you are going to be a victim or a victor – you just must TRY.